1. PUBLIC ADVOCACY: MOBLIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR OUR LIBRARIES Friday, January 20, 2012 Presented by Ed Palmer Dallas Municipal Library Board Chair Prepared by Juanelo Moa Dallas Public Library

2. 2 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY REQUIREMENTS MOBILIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT & SPREADING AWARENESS RECRUITING THE KEY ADVOCACY TEAM DEVLOPING THE ADVOCACY PLAN AND MESSAGE ESTABLISHING PARTNERSHIPS DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING SUPPORT MATERIAL EXECUTING THE PLAN

3. 3 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY TEAM RECRUITMENT MANY SKILLS REQUIRED PRESENTERS - RESEARCHERS - ADMINISTRATORS LIBRARY BOARDS LIBRARY FRIENDS ORGANIZATIONS LIBRARY USER GROUPS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

4. 4 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY PLAN & MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION REALISTIC – SIMPLE ONE VOICE – ONE MESSAGE SPECIFIC COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

5. 5 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY PLANNING DALLAS LIBRARY BUDGET – 2011 – 2012 The proposed 2011 – 2012 Budget for the Dallas Library will keep the Library hours the same at 40 hours per week. The proposed Materials Budget will remain the same as the past year at 1.6M. There will be some reduction in Staff, but most of the positions are vacant and we expect that a minimal number of staff will receive reduction in force notices. All of this means that we will have a basically adequate budget that can be managed, but we need to focus our attention and advocacy on increasing the Materials Budget as soon as funds become available. We cannot continue indefinitely with this extremely low Materials Budget without irreparable harm to our libraries.

6. 6 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY PLANNING DALLAS LIBRARY BUDGET – 2011 – 2012 We need to continue our efforts with each Council Member to get them into our libraries to see the actual condition of our materials and how important it is to increase this budget as soon as possible. Updates on the Budget Issue and future library plans will be forwarded as we go through the year.

7. 7 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ESTABLISHING ADVOCACY PARTNERSHIPS FRIENDS GROUPS LIBRARY USER GROUPS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS LOCAL BUSINESSES STATE WIDE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NATIONAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

8. 8 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY RESEARCH  FACTS AND DATA SUPPORTING THE MESSAGE AND PLAN LIBRARY DATA CITY STATE NATIONAL

9. 9 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers *Source: City Budgets**Source: City Budgets, 2010 U.S. Census Data

10. 10 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers *Source: City Budgets, 2010 U.S. Census Data**Source: Public Library Association Survey, 2011; U.S. Census Data

11. 11 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers **Source: Public Library Association Survey, 2011; U.S. Census Data

12. 12 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries How Dallas Ranks Among National Peers *Source: City websites, news articles and U.S. Census data

13. 13 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries ADVOCACY MATERIAL PRODUCTION  GENERIC MATERIALS  SIMPLE MESSAGES OF CURRENT ADVOCACY CHARTS GRAPHS VISUALS

14. 14 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries EXECUTING THE ADVOCACY PLAN MOBILIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT – SPREADING AWARENESS CITY LEADERS CITY – COMMUNITY TOWN HALL MEETINGS LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS MEDIA OUTLETS DEVELOP AND HOST SPECIAL EVENTS STATE LEADERS AND MEETINGS

15. 15 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries Oak Lawn Library Branch

16. 16 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries Planning Update Community Read-In Supporting the Library Saturday, April 30, 2011, 12-2 PM City Hall Plaza (Young and Ervay) *Rain location: 1st Floor of Jonsson Central Library (1515 Young Street- across street from City Hall) Purpose: A community event to showcase Dallas’ support for public libraries as the heart of the community. Event will feature community leaders of all ages and professions who will read children’s books and short stories (adult) at 10-15 minute intervals. There will also be theatrical and musical performances by local groups.

17. 17 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMUNITY READ-IN SUPPORTING THE LIBRARY Volunteer Assignments: 1) Friends materials table (Membership, fact sheets, history booklet, stickers): Holly Hill, Karen Blumenthal 2) Adult books/audio books/ DVDs giveaway table: Laura Starks and Leelora Davis (note I will email you next week about how the DVD/audio book drawings will run) 3) Drinks/snacks table: Freda Gail Stern, Doug Taylor 4) Children’s books/DVDs/toy giveaways table: Liz Hirsch, Judy Bruton (note I will email you next week about how the DVD/toy drawings will run) 5) Manning stage: Valentina Doyon 6) Manning Children’s Corner: Ann Saucer 7) Managing online/paper petitions: Ed Palmer

18. 18 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries Legislative Day, February 16, 2011 (Austin, TX): Ed Palmer, Dallas Municipal Library Board Chair & Corinne Hill, Interim Director of Dallas Public Libraries

19. 19 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries KEY PUBLIC ADVOCACY ELEMENTS BEGIN EARLY – ADVOCACY IS AN ALL YEAR ACTIVITY BE REALISTIC – KEEP IT SIMPLE BE VISUAL WHENEVER POSSIBLE BE PERSISTENT BE PATIENT – CHANGE DOES NOT HAPPEN QUICKLY

20. 20 Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy: Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries Questions???